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me!

reading this most if you are not only going to think I am strange, but a stark raving lunatic.

1) ..... I think ghosts are in unworn clothes......my goodness that sounds stupid typing it, basically if I see a top on the floor, rather than pick it up like most people I straighten it out in case there is a ghost inside :-/ obviously after a while I will pick it up but still.....cannot believe I have admitted that to you guys!

2) ..... Fear of sharks stops me using bubble bath..... since I was little I have loved sharks, but also scared of them. I swam with them with (baby ones of course) and with my dad in Florida in 2000 when I was 10, since then I have been even more scared and now wont use bubble bath in case I cannot see a shark coming up the plug hold.

3) ..... I always start on my right..... It doesn't matter if its putting my trousers on or my shoes but I always start on the right, one day last week I accidently started on the left, 1st time in years and I went all funny and had to sit down.

4)....coat hanger..... in my world a coat hanger is actually called a hangcoata.....it actually makes no sense!

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Just a few things that make me me I suppose!

Everybody is different but I do have funny quirks that people I know don't seem to have! 5 isn't a big list but anymore and I might get taken away...........

In no particular order..

1. I hate the phone to the extent that I will avoid it at all costs, even if it innocently rings I'm jumping about...if I don't recognise a number on caller display I won't answer it- besides half the time it's a machine cold calling to see if it's a live number, so not answering it stops pest calls eventually!!I hate the Bin man as well.....and as for the Postman forget it.....although he does catch me saying ridiculous things when the back door's open. Thinking about it I wonder if I hate these things because potentially they may bring bad news or in the Bin man's case I've thrown something away by accident......mmm one to think about- maybe I recieved really bad news in a past life....

2. I get upset when I see animals suffering (especially sea life Dolphins, Sharks etc), but I can't help looking these things up; Youtube especially contains some pretty graphic stuff. I just can't believe what people are capable of. Another strange thing about me is that I used to be a veggie for many years then became cynical in my old age and started eating it- even though I hate to and won't even kill insects; I felt terrible putting woodworm killer down...eating meat gives me the creeps yet I still do it.....I'm a hypocrite..

3. I love Sharks- I'll spend hours looking up facts, pretty sad I know......A perfect day for me is visiting Sea Life centres, I can watch the Sharks for hours....I blame Jaws for that one, when I was little I cried when he got blown up......everyone thought I was nuts.......still do........

4. I'm not very social and I hate the pub, I don't drink so pretty pointless being in there......the noise, the crowds, the smell- not for me...

5. I don't do fashion and makeup but to be honest I put that down to laziness on my part, but I do pride myself on being scruffy; besides it saves a fortune!

So that's a few things that some people would find strange!!

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Reasons as to why I think I'm strange.

What a strange category to start with! But anyway, there are way more than 5 things that are strange about me, but I will list my top 5 most strangest things. This could be a bit of OCD to be honest on my part, but you'll soon realise I'm a pretty strange person. Everybody has their little ways and habits I think, which to some people may seem a bit strange, but to that person is normal.

1) STAIRWAYS~~~~~~~~~I always have to start walking up stairs on my right foot. I don't know why I do this or why it ever started, but I hate using my left foot first. This is the case when I finish walking up stairs too, I have to finish on my right foot too. That's pretty strange, right?

2) MY FEET~~~~~~~On a related note about my feet, the same applies when I put my shoes and socks on. I always have to put my right shoes and socks on 1st, and take my left ones off 1st. No idea why I do this, but yes, that's odd.

3) NUMBERS~~~~~~~~As I mentioned with the stairs, I always count the stairs. Now, I prefer even numbers to odd ones, and I don't like the numbers 1 or 9. This can be a bit of an issue for me if I have an odd amount of something. One has to be added or taken away to make it an even number. I'm useless at maths and really am very bad when it comes to doing sums, but when it comes to odd and even numbers, I prefer even lol.

4) MY KITCHEN UTENSILS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In my cutlery drawer, all my knives, forks and spoons have to be facing the same way. I hate an untidy cutlery draw. The same applies to my tea/coffee/sugar canisters. They all have to be facing front ways so the wording is visible. This is the same with all the serving spoons and other large utensils I have in my utensil holder - they all have to be facing the right way too - up.

5) MY WARDROBE~~~~~~~~~~~~The clothes in my wardrobe have got to all be facing the same way. The trousers are all folded up neatly and all in one pile, and my shirts and blouses that are hanging up should all be facing the same way in the wardrobe. If they are not, I will turn them, or the offending frock, round to be facing the same way as all the others.

IN SUMMARY~~~~~~~~Well, these are 5 reasons why I think I'm pretty odd. Not that any of these listed affect my life in any way in a major way, but as I say, a lot of them are just force of habit anyway.

Thankyou for reading. =)Louise.

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" Do you feel like a remnant of something that's past ".....

I have always felt outside of the mainstream which can be a blessing when you look at majority ethics but can also be somewhat isolating. I have high standards I guess, of myself and others in terms of behaviour and honesty and I am constantly disappointed by the lack of integrity amongst humans.I guess I am writing this list to either prove that I am the oddball or to reassure myself that I am not....

There are things about my isolation from the mainstream that I am very grateful for. I am a single parent and I love that. I am a feminist and I don't so much love that but feel it is necessary. I am happy in the fact that I am a pink haired disabled dyke and could not give a stuff about people who judge that about me. I am even happy that I have the disabilities that I do for those things have given me many gifts (far to tedious to go on about here).

I found this subject whilst browsing the lounge area, which I have not really explored. So <deep breath> here we go, this is my list of my 5 "weird" characteristics, some of which include the things that bother me and make me feel apart from the majority.

1/ TRUTH - I cannot stand liars. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Dishonesty in relationships and friendships means that your connection is based on falsehood. I am not talking about being deliberately unkind but people who say one thing and then say another to somebody else freak the hell out of me. I am blunt but not malicious. I do not seek to hurt anybody but I will say what I think. People find that hard to deal with. Maybe it illuminates their own dishonesty but I find that I have to play along with the "game" to fit in and I find that near impossible to the point where it makes me feel ill. I have questioned my black and white thinking and the fact that I should not expect everyone to have the same standards. Of course they shouldn't but for God's sake why can't people be real? I feel that this makes me a bit weird....

2/ CLIQUES - I guess this links in to the above. Being an outsider has its advantages in terms of less drama but it can be isolating. I have recently been burnt and I find it hard to reconcile that inside my head. Looking at the above comment on truth I see that it is definitely related. Tow the line or be ostracised, be like everyone else or you are a weirdo, say the right things and you will be accepted, don't challenge lies, don't challenge racism, don't pull someone up on misogyny etc. It is crap really isn't it? Maybe this stuff does not bother most people but it really really bothers me. I do not want to be in a clique. At the moment it seems to me that humans seem to lack the ability to accept diversity without being abusive in some way. By abusive I mean either misogynist, racist etc. I genuinely do not get it. That makes me weird perhaps, because again I am questioning majority rule here.

3/ KILLING STUFF:

I suppose this would make me weird to many. I find it hard to kill anything even a flea. When I have to de-flea my cats for their own health I say a mantra to say sorry. Told you, weird. To me everything is part of the circle if life and has a right to be here. When I choose to take on a pet then I become responsible for its health and welfare. Therefore if I do not kill fleas my pet will suffer and could even die. I accept that it is something that I have to do but most people do not think about it at all. The same with slugs, flies, spiders- People kill them without thought. I cannot. As a result I usually end up with just a few bedraggled strands of broccoli in my veg patch as opposed to 50 healthy ones.

4/ CONSCIOUSNESS:

I believe that everything has consciousness. Most would find that weird. By consciousness I mean a "divine purpose" I guess. I am not remotely religious, in fact find most mainstream religions fairly grim. But I have an unshakeable feeling that everything has its place. And no I cannot answer why.

5/ SPROUTS :

The above has been heavy stuff because I feel pretty much the "outsider" at the moment (not on here though I might add). I LOVE Brussels sprouts. Preferably cold with sea salt on. That is probably the weirdest thing that I have admitted to on here so far.

I am trusting that the above is not some major drama causing faux pas on DooYoo :-o but I kind of needed to get it out. In fact DooYoo funnily enough is one place where so far I HAVE felt accepted despite some members having been here a very long time. I appreciate the fact that people have bothered to say hello to me and congratulate me on my first crown etc and in return I try to do the same to newbies.

At the moment I am in a weird transition place and am questioning the world. I think that I probably need to make some new friends....

This is just one fragment of the whole. Thank you for listening and feel free to raise an eyebrow if I start reviewing books dedicated to the humble Brussels Sprout.

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Perhaps its better to leave some things unsaid!

Five reasons why I am strange!

1) MOTHBALLSI used to love these as a child and would keep some in a suede pouch under my pillow - no idea whre I even got them from - must have been mums. Now don't tell me how unhealthy that must have been as I'd rather not know now!!

2) FRIED EGGS AND COKE BOTTLESI don't actually eat these but I like buying them and pulling them to pieces and squidging them - like a sort of gelatine worry bead thing.

3) PEOPLE TOUCHING MY FOODI don't like people using the same food packets as me - such as teabags or cereal - I even dislike using the same packet of froze peas 9mind you I did see someone pick out a pea and eat it!). I just like my things to be 'untouched' - yes I know there are bound to have been lots of touching before I receive it - but I try not to think about that! even with things like chocolate raisins - if son has a few out of my bag I will just give them all to him as I never fancy them afterwards. I even used to open the sliced loaf fro the bottom to get to the untouched slices - but that drove sons wild so I stopped.

4) TENNIS BALLSBefore I started my coke bottle squidging I used to use the kids old tennis balls and ripe them quietly to shreds.

5) CHEWING GUM AND TEETHAs my dad had a thing about dentists he never let me go as a young kid so when I had a hole in my front tooth I would try and 'fill' it with chewing gum.

Thank goodness I stopped at 5 - now looking at my list even I think its weird!!

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Strange? you decide!

This is my 500th DooYoo review so I thought I'd do a bit of insight into my character and personality.

1. I get upset when I chop into a pepper and there is a 'baby' one inside. It actually makes me get all choked up.

2. I love sticky back plastic and love customising things with it. My desire to purchase different patterns of said SBP is getting out of control and I even have six tubes of the stuff hidden in the back of my car so my husband can't see that I have bought more. I love the stuff and secretly I like how the vinyl ones smell!

3. Baked beans - I hate them so much I am scared to walk down the aisle that sells them in the supermarket. If I must go down that aisle I have to look the other way and walk quickly past them. I could not eat food off a plate that has baked beans on them ie. Eat round them, even the juice is evil to me. I do like spaghetti hoops though and think this disturbed phobia relates to a time when as a child my mum would make my sister beans on toast and then as the younger child my spaghetti hoops on toast would follow. Heated up in the same pan... with a few survivor beans resting in the hoops on my plate. The Heinz beans advert a few years ago with the animated beans actually made me retch when it came on TV.

4. When I was pregnant with my daughter I had a massive urge to chew rubber bands and I found a few big meaty ones that I boiled in hot water first and then could sit happily chewing it for ages. I also wanted to lick a car tyre but it needed to be brand new (I didn't) and the smell of brand new footballs in the shop was appealing. Finally I loved the smell of diesel and would get it on my hands a bit on purpose when filling the car so I could sniff it all the way home. These urges subsided once my daughter was born. I think it was actually a condition called "Pica" (the urge to eat non food items) which often surfaces with a vitamin deficiency. I was short on Iron at the time so perhaps it was that!

5. The hiccups. I have had a really strange affliction for the last 12 years (so I guess it's not going away any time soon). It started in 2000 when I was completing my dissertation in my final year at Uni. Just one loud hiccup, randomly around every two hours. I don't do it as often now but one often slips out if I am stressed, angry or annoyed and I never know when it's coming. It sounds like a dinosaur screeching (it's loud) my friends and family know I do it but it can alarm strangers. I actually think it's a bit of non-verbal Turrett's having done a bit of research on it. I do try and control this but sometimes it's out before I know it.

As this is limited to five items I won't go on, but I could have found many more subjects to discuss here. I love that we are all different and generally find my strangeness has no serious impact on other people.

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5 reasons as to why I am a little odd

All of us have little quirks and things that make us unique. When I thought about we are all strange in our own little ways and below is my list of 5 reasons:

1. I cannot sit in a room with other people when it's quiet. For example, I cannot go to the Cinema anymore because I get paranoid that I will ruin the film for everybody else. Having popcorn is the worst. I find myself not wanting to crunch so I end up sucking the popcorn until it moist enough for me to swallow. When I go use the computer at work I worry about making too much noise by typing and end up taking longer as I am trying to make each letter pressed as quiet as possible.

2. I have a fear of mayonnaise. I do not know why I have this irrational fear but I just loath the stuff. I don't mind so much when it's already in a sandwich but I despise it when there is a jar of the rancid stuff. I literally cannot pick a jar up because my body just freezes and won't allow me to get close to it.

3. I can run faster backwards than I can forwards. I'm pretty slow at the 100metre sprint. I think when I timed myself I did it in 16 seconds. But one day after messing about running backwards I tried the sprint running backwards. The time I set was 14.5 seconds. Watch out Usain Bolt.

4. My elbows are double jointed. They can bend the wrong and look disgusting. I should really be looked up in a freak show.

5. At the age of 24 I still find it hilarious to make faces out of my food. My favourite is making a big smiley face out of bangers and mash. Making a sweet hairdo out of peas adds to the comedy gold.

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Be yourself, and enjoy it.

I don't know if I can lay claim to being a fully-fledged "strange", but I do know my own mind, have my own foibles and I am my own person. I'm also a strange mix of someone who has a bit of life experience and can temper her insecurities enough to know that this self awareness can't be a bad thing, whilst also still being young enough to have that little inner voice of self doubt that hasn't quite shed it's more ridiculous paranoia issues yet. Here's five things about me that, to me, keep me away from the herd...

1) I'm OK on my own.

I don't need to be in a relationship. Further to that, if I'm honest, I don't understand people who do.

I once had a friend who moved in with me for a little while, which meant her moving away from home and away from the end of a long-term relationship. She said "don't let me start a new relationship - I need to date, be on my own, get on my own two feet". I agreed entirely, but I couldn't make her decisions for her. Within half an hour of moving in, she'd met a friend of mine and within a week they were a couple. Not only do I not understand how people can exist in relationships which are unbalanced, where the emotional involvement between the two people isn't on the same keel, where there is some form of desperation, need or boredom, or where anything isn't at least a functional, workable flaw or characteristic both can live with and grow to adapt to, I don't know. But to rush into them that quickly? That's just scary.

In short I believe that you can't be with someone and expect it to work unless you can cope and be on your own, and I'm proud that I can. As a result of that I may be a bit tougher, a bit more realistic and strong willed and maybe my independence is intimidating, but it is a survival characteristic and whoever I do end up with, if I do at all, will hopefully appreciate that strength and support that I can bring to the table.

2) I'm also a hopeless romantic.

I don't need roses on Valentines day - I hate Valentines day! I don't need chocolates and teddy bears and couply nicknames, but I do like romance. The real, good, old-fashioned, chivalrous, respectful display of admiration and adoration. Maybe this flies in the face of what I said above, but there is always time for romance if you have the right person in your life with whom to express it. Just maybe not on February 14th.

3) I'm terrified of animations

Really. I love the sarcastic humour of The Simpsons and Family Guy, but it took me literally years before I could watch the former without feeling physically sick. Wallace & Gromit are evil and must be stopped. Ironically, my favourite show as a child could be the source of this - it was the trip-tastically surreal Stoppit & Tidyup, narrated by Terry Wogan, and weird cartoon world that was like an Benicio del Toro film watered down for kids, which I adored as a child but was seriously unnerved by when I next saw it aged 15. Now? Disney is the very essence of all that is wrong and immoral and as for King of the Hill...don't get me started. See also clowns, puppets, ventriloquism not performed by Nina Conti and Monkey, and the very face of Johnny Vegas. These things are all connected and none of them are good in my world.

4) I probably don't do feminism any favours

Now I'm an intelligent, independent female, so you'd think I'd be right on the "equality, hell yeah!" frontline. Which, to a degree, I am. However, for all I think that women have the right to earn the same, achieve the same and fight for the same rights as men in any society, with regards our own Western society I will say this: I believe that a woman should want to look her best as well as achieve her best. Both for herself but also for her partner, for her family and friends.

I honestly think that, as much as a relationship should never be the most important thing in your life, there is nothing wrong or demeaning about wanting to dress well, do your hair, wear a perfume or generally make the most of yourself - so long as you don't purely do it for the benefit of your partner but also because it makes you feel good, beautiful and special not just because you look good but also because you're enjoying that relationship and the pleasure you can give to the other person.

Someone said to me a while ago that they liked my perfume and that not enough women wore a nice scent any more; I'm quite a big fan of Hollywood glamour of the old school and took it as a compliment when the conversation turned from that to the fact that sometimes, sadly, women seem to be scared to be feminine in this day and age. Come on girls, we're beautiful and we can do a thousand things at once and be all things to all people; let's enjoy it.

5) I'll never lose my insecurity...which might be a good thing

I've come to accept this now. I was lightly bullied as a child - if bullying can ever be light, it's all relative to the self assurance of the person on the receiving end. I don't know if that's why, but I am deeply insecure about my appearance and how people interpret my looks, actions and conduct. Yet on the other hand with maturity has come the knowledge that a) I have achieved quite a bit for my age, admittedly with the help and support of a very small but amazing family unit and some superb friends and b) I have grown from that awkward child into a relatively attractive female. But no matter how my self confidence has grown over the years, the self doubt and self criticism has never abated, faded or left. It's an interesting psychological puzzle but if nothing else, it keeps you with a healthy sense of self awareness. So maybe, for all it can be tough to grow up with, insecurity can be a healthy thing to have, provided you have self confidence to temper it with, and interestingly I think that acknowledging what you perceive to be your failings, which invariably will be the things that really matter to you, can be a good way of knowing that you always have an inner drive to improve, achieve and better yourself.

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it's me

I don't really think I'm strange it's just other people that don't really know me think I am because I don't follow the norm.

1) I don't and have never 'fancied people'.

I find some people have nice eyes or a nice bum etc but this doesn't mean I want to jump into bed with them or even kiss or 'snog' them. I don't find someone nice looking just because they have nice eyes. People can't understand that I find people attractive once I get to know them, as I am older it is probably more understood but when I was younger my friends could never understand that I didn't fancy certain people or find them nice looking.

2) I am female and never get upset or angry if I don't get a valentines card or anniversary card from my husband.

This doesn't bother me because I am secure in my relationship. I know my husband loves me even when we argue and I want him out of the house. I feel certain things are for show on these days and I don't need that attention.

3) I don't do the birthday thing at work.

Any birthday ending in a 0 where I work means collection and presentation - you can't have the collection without the presentation. This is in my worst nightmare, everyone crowding round my desk whilst someone that hardly knows me says things; most people only turn up for the cakes that have been brought in.When I was approaching 40 I luckily spotted the email on a friends computer whilst talking, I emailed my manager to explain I couldn't believe they had done that etc. My manager did say she was a bit unsure about it going out for me. They had to give the money back that they had collected and turn people away. If I hadn't spotted the email I think I would have done a runner when people started appearing near my desk.

4) I don't moan about the way my husband has cleaned or tidied up etc.

Why would I? he would never do it again. I am not domesticated and try to explain to people so what if it isn't done quite to your standard but some would rather do it themselves and then moan that their other half do nothing around the house. A lot of men don't do it because women won't let them, when in the past they have, the women moan they haven't done it right and re do it. Not me I appreciate it.

5) I say what I mean.

I don't see the point in lying or pretending. I say it how it is. I can't understand people like my mum who will lie to make people feel better, when they find out they won't be happy.

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my quirks

The world would be a very boring place if we were identical clones of each other. We all have our little quirks and idiosyncratic and its time to celebrate them. Some are weirder than others. The weirdest one I can think of is a friend's husband who is a ferry spotter specialissng in Caledonian MacBrayne ferries. I also had a childhood friend who survived on Wee Willie Winky sausages, chips and ice cream (sometimes all on the same plate!). I'm far from perfect myself. I take being slightly mad or weird as a complement nowadays, as I know who I am. And mostly like who I am. To nick a Noel Gallagher lyric "You need to be yourself, You can be no one else" So here's my top five reasons why I think I am strange.

1 I have Never been to Ikea.

I have heard so much about the flat pack shop that's as much a Swedish institution as ABBA and Volvo. I have heard all about the cheap prices, the fabulous range of goods and also the very tasty, reasonable meals in the restaurant . However I have never once entered the doors of this hallowed establishment. I suppose I am curious to visit one sometime. I know there are four in the London area but none are that easy to get to for me as I don't drive.. The Croydon one is probably the nearest one but I've never set foot in Croydon and I am not sure I want to either. The Wembley one would be the easiest one , a is on the Jubilee Line but right up the top of it when I live the other end. Thus I don't see myself going to Ikea in the foreseeable future unless someone nicely gives me a lift.

2.peanut butter by the spoonful

I know peanut butter is a bit of a Marmite food. Some hate it with a passion whilst others like me can't get enough of the claggy, nutty paste. I love nuts anyway and often buy roasted peanuts or cashews for a snack but there is just something so comforting about peanut butter. I blame my passion on my mother being born in Canada. I often had peanut butter sandwiches as a child with various accompanying fillings from banana to jam and later on chocolate spread I wolfed them down .I even had the now probably banned peanut butter and sugar sandwich. (try them it takes the stickiness of the peanut butter away. Sometimes Hershey peanut butter cups do the trick when I need a peanut butter fix on the move. However one of the nicest ways of eating it is with a teaspoon straight from the jar. It has to be crunchy. Smooth peanut butter is just not the same , as the texture is just all wrong. I am not fussed too much by the brand. Sometimes I like the healthier Whole Earth stuff but sometimes a more sugary one hits the spot and I do not discount the supermarkets' own value brands as they are cheap and cheerful;. The only problem with this method of eating peanut butter is if you eat too much from one spoonful and it dries your mouth out making you feel like choking. Hence a glass of water with secret peanut butter feasts is a must.

3.Cream biscuit rituals. Since we are on he subject of eating I may as well confess there are certain foods I always eat a certain way. It is an extension of the old Cadbury's cream egg ad "How do You Eat Yours". I like to suck peanut m and ms until the shell cracks and the chocolate melts and I'm left with the peanut.. I tend to eat most of the chocolate on a choc ice before the ice cream as well. When it comes to cream biscuits such as custard creams or bourbon creams (I used to call them bon bon creams.) I always have to eat them in pairs as a single biscuit will not do. At the moment . I'm practising with some tasty Marks and Spencer's Crunchy Golden creams. I firstly nibble the top off each of the biscuits then stick the remainder of the biscuits together to make a mega filled biscuit. I then nibble around the remaining biscuit until its mostly cream left. Weird i know but I have one it for years.

4.Chickens are evil

II have a really strange phobia. I am petrified of live chickens and cockerels. I am not sure where it came from but I f used to have dreams that there were chickens living down the bottom of our garden in the fruit patch that would come out and peck and claw me to pieces.. I think they are the most evil looking creatures going with their beady eyes, sharp beaks and claws and even the combs on their heads. I really feel anxious at even the sound of them. I have seen me flee from a children's farm or pets corner if iI can hear or see them. I usually have to have a friend to go ahead so I do not get terrified. I must not be the only one as there is an actual name for the fear of chickens Alektorophobia. The strangest thing is I am ok with cartoon or puppet ones and love the Muppet chickens and the film "Chicken Run.". The even weirder thing is that despite being petrified of them I have not eaten a bit of chicken for over 5 years , as I do not like the way most of them are farmed. Free range organic chicken is expensive so I would rather go without than eat intensively farmed chickens. I also try and eat only free range eggs where possible.

5 Reading Rituals

When it comes to reading books I have developed some little habits. I like to see how many pages I have read each day and from there I like to work out an average reading speed a day and also how long it will take me to finish the book. I also like working out the halfway an quarter way points through the book. I think this may have come about from reading for book groups or when studying when I had to read a book in a certain time period.

So there you go. I hope you do not think i am a grade a fruit cake more a mild eccentric with my little quirks.

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We are all a little unusual in our own ways.

I doubt anyone really considers themselves "normal" we all have our own little quirks and habits that make us unique. What is "normal" anyway?

I am sure my girlfriend can think of a million strange things about me, but I'll limit myself to just five here.

1. I love kechup, tomato puree as part of a pizza, and even tomato in pasta sauces, but give me a fresh ripe juicy tomato to eat... Eeeew! I can't even bring myself to try them! Even worse is tinned tomato - even the smell disgusts me!

2. Since I was a young child I've been facinated by the shipping forecast on the radio. I remember once listening to cricket on the radio during a car journey and they played the shipping forecast in the tea interval. I was hooked! Dogger, Viking, South Utsire - where were these places? As an inquisitive young lad I was dying to find out!

3. I used to eat toothpaste! When I was a child I loved mint sweets, in fact I still do. I remember thinking one day when I was about five years old that toothpaste tasted like sweets. I didn't have any sweets, but there was toothpaste in the bathroom. I'd eaten half a tube of it before my Mum found me with it all over my face and hands!

4. I am scared of heights, but I love flying. I have always been terrified of heights. When I was a child I didn't even like walking up open staircases! The feeling you get from sitting in a plane as it powers into the sky is fantastic though and does not scare me at all!

5. I love watching poor quality, low budget, horror movies! The cheesier the better! The sort of movie where you can see the zipper on the monster's costume and the blood is ketchup is my idea of great entertainment!

We are all strange ways, embrace the wierdness in everyone!

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?

I don't normally post here, but was compelled to do so as I've been described as 'strange' numerous times throughout my life. I'm beginning to see a pattern emerge, so here are five things people have pulled me up on.

1: What I eat for breakfast:

Most people wrinkle their noses when I tell them what I for breakfast, which usually consists of last night's leftovers. Curry, soup, lasagne, risotto, trifle, cake, bread and butter pudding - anything that's to be found in tupperware in the fridge, really. I find it baffling that most people think that toast, bowls of cereal, eggs, grilled stuff and son, i.e. all the standard breakfast menu things, are the only acceptable foodstuffs at 8 am. Four hours later and nobody would bat an eyelid at my eating a bowl of chilli.

2: My favourite animals:

I've always been fascinated by animals, and can never resist books on zoology from the charity shop, or David Attenborough's latest offerings on TV. I find all natural life interesting, but my personal favourites are chickens, which are far more complex than you may think, with highly developed social structures, mannerisms and diets. On an equal footing are squids - in particular the elusive giant and colossal squid, which are living sea monsters.

3: Holiday destinations:

Typically I dislike going to hot places, because I burn really easily and find hot/humid weather really depressing and inescapable. I think the inner Viking in me craves the Northern lands. Give me snow-covered mountains, dark forests and fjords any day over popular holiday destinations like Tenerife. It's far easier to get comfortable and warm in a cold climate than it is to cool down in oppressive heatwaves.

4: Grammar:

Grammar, and the English language, are a passion of mine. Misplaced apostrophes and lousy constructions intensely irritate me. I wish I had a magic red marker pen so that I could edit the world. Management speak, and its proliferators, should be banished for crimes against their native language and not be allowed back until they understand why action is not a verb.

My favourite book when I was small was the dictionary. I would read it endlessly, finding new words and their meanings. I still maintain an English vocabulary book to this day, which is seen as weird for some reason...

By the way, Chambers Dictionary > OED. I was gutted to hear that they have folded after 200 years.

5: Money:

I'm not sure money really exists. I think it may be an illusion of an illusion that has become so unfathomably complex that nobody truly understands it any more, especially now we live in the days of electronic banking systems.

Well, that's a bit of what's been dubbed as my weirdness. There are many more, but those are the first that sprung to mind.

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We are all strange in our own lovely ways!

Having just discovered the DooYooLounge I seen this and of all the things I wanted to write about I thought this would be fun...and for reason people often tell me I am strange so I felt it was quite fitting! But I don't like to think of it as being strange.....just occasionaly quirky!

1. I'm scared of leprechauns!One of a few odd fears this is a fear that developed in my childhood as my dad let me watch a film called The Leprechaun -can you guess what it's about? The film itself is terrible! And from what others have told me it is not scary at all (I refuse to watch it ever again!!) but when you are 5 or 6 and you see a leprechaun killing people because he wants his gold back...and using his shoe buckle as a killing device- its pretty terrifying!!

2. I HAVE to fill awkward silences!...Or silence in general sometimes.When I meet new people, or even with people I know...if a hint of awkward silence hits then my mouth gathers a life of it own and does not stop!!!! Which can be fine, to break the ice etc...but even after that it doesn't want to stop, and the worst part is it's all nerves, so when people start payin attention to what I'm saying I start to get really warm and talk to the floor/my hands or anywhere else but the people who are all now staring at me!

3. Arms that bend at a 45 degree are not normal apparently...According to a growing number of people I have odd arms. If a apparent normal person stretches their arms on in front of them palms up (do the same as you read this if you would like to picture the scene) their hands touch near enough when you put your elbows together. Mines do not do this, and below the elbow my arms head opposite directions from one another. I was once in a tattoo parlour with a friend and he told the tattoo artist about this and asked me to show him, shocked the artist said 'Oh what happened to you?'....I was born this way! I felt an awkward silence building.

4. I like to commentate on people, animals and inanimate objects.I don't know how this began but I think it stemmed from people watching as a teen. And where you would have two people, say in a heated debate, but you are two far away to hear them, I like to fill in the conversation.A recent example is a architects sculpture of a new building, to which he had added little people, I sat analysing the whole thing to then proceed to question what exactly all the people where doing there 'Well he looks like he's just on his way home from his weekly shop, he's not interested. And them sitting at the side, are they not even going to help that man in the courtyard doing that heavy lifting! How lazy!' My friend listened for about 2 minutes before stopping me before I got carried away, as it was after all just a sculpture, they aren't real!

5. I make silly noises when I do something stupid!This came out of nowhere at some point in my life and only seems to get worse with age. I like to think of the noise as a 'whooping' sound and it generally escapes my mouth when I do things such at bump into someone, push instead of pull a door, drop something or the worst if I trip up -it's bad enough I've tripped up but I have to let everyone know about it by shouting 'ooop'. It's now become a very bad habit which I can't seem to control...but luckily I have discovered its not just me!

Looking over it...I don't think I sound that strange at all...but then I only listed 5!

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Everyone's a bit strange, even me.

Here we go, my first discussion post! Got to this through looking at one of the people who rated one of my reviews.

1) When eating friend eggs, I have to chop all the white off and away from the yolk, and peel away the white/goo that surrounds the yolk as well. I east all the white etc with my beans or whatever else I'm having with it, leaving the yolks til last, and then I grab the ketchup (that's right, ketchup) squirt some on the plate and dunk ym yolks in it and then eat them. Yummy.

2) When I play Sims, and I play it quite a lot (since I was about 13) I build more than anything else. This may not sound that weird, but I have whole neighbourhoods devoted to building houses.

3) I smell my arm when I'm tired. I'm assuming I did it when I was a baby. I also do it unconsciously so I'm completely unaware...and then people tell me that I'm tired because they can all tell, embarrassingly.

4) I have a an obsession with correct grammar - or should that be correcting other people's grammar? I also get up on my high horse over spelling. If I see something spelt/grammatically wrong I feel a compulsion to correct it. I think it makes up for the fact I'm a complete slob.

5) When I'm ill I prefer to sleep on the floor, even though its cold. I have to get closer to the ground, I guess. If a headache comes along, bam! I'm down there on the floor curled up. And it cures the illness too I'm sure, otherwise I mope around or can't sleep.

So there you go, a little about my oddities that might interest people. I could've listed a lot more about food but that would be boring. I'm pretty sure everyone has these sorts of little quirks though, its what makes us individuals, right? Or maybe its just me with these sorts of ones, haha!